Infant food tray

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is an infant food tray to which a snack tray (230) is applied. The snack tray (230) includes container-accommodation spaces (232a), (232b) configured to accommodate two small side-dish containers (210). The container-accommodation spaces (232a), (232b) are formed to be surrounded by a stepped rim (234) having a step on top on an outer periphery. A sidewall (233) and a bottom (236) maintain a shape due to a rounded portion (238) so as to allow infants to separately accommodate as much as they want to eat of a large amount of cooked rice and soup in each of the container-accommodation spaces (232a), (232b) little by little or to be easily used by inserting the small side-dish containers (210) thereinto.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an infant food tray, and more particularly, to an infant food tray configured to accommodate cooked rice and soup or a variety of types (at least three and up to eight types) of food depending on the number of side dishes to feed an infant, to separately heat residual cold soup, cooked rice, or side dishes using a microwave range, and to give a snack to the infant using side-dish containers and a snack tray which are included in the infant food tray even when there is no additional side-dish container.

BACKGROUND ART

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , an infant food tray 100 according to a first example of a related art is formed of a silicone material for convenience of use and to prevent an accident caused by negligence. In addition, a platinum catalyst is mixed therewith to eliminate a unique smell of silicone and to relatively increase a heat-resisting property and a use-temperature range. Here, the platinum catalyst may be mixed at 0.125 weight percent with respect to 100 weight percent of silicone.

Through this, the infant food tray 100 according to the example forms adsorption using viscosity of silicone and a vacuum principle so as to be prevented from sliding and falling from a table even when the table tilts while on the table.

In more detail, the infant food tray 100 according to the example includes a bottom plate 110 and a first food accommodation portion 120, a second food accommodation portion 130, and a third food accommodation portion 140 which protrude from the bottom plate 110 to separately accommodate a variety of food items.

The infant food tray 100 is formed by integrally injection molding the bottom plate 110, the first food accommodation portion 120, the second food accommodation portion 130, and the third food accommodation portion 140.

The bottom plate 110 has a plate shape on which cutlery such as a spoon, fork, and the like are placed and which comes into substantial contact with and is supported by a top surface of the table. Also, the bottom plate 110 includes a decorative band 111 formed on an edge portion to protrude for a more aesthetic exterior. The decorative band 111 prevents an edge of the bottom plate 110 from being easily torn or cracked.

In addition, in the example, as shown in FIG. 2 , the first food accommodation portion 120 has a whale-body shape and is coupled with the second food accommodation portion 130 and the third food accommodation portion 140 which will be described below to form an overall shape in which a whale blows so as to arose infants' interest and allow infants to concentrate on their meal.

Here, a thickness of a first sidewall portion 121 is formed to be greater than a thickness of the bottom plate 110 and thus the first sidewall portion 121 may be prevented from being deformed when food is placed in the first food accommodation portion 120 so as to elastically support the food not to overflow.

However, the related art has limitations in providing a chance or motivation for delightfully enjoying a meal with curiosity to infant and allowing infants, by themselves, to carry a variety of types of soup or side dishes using one tray.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

The present invention is directed to providing an infant food tray configured to prevent an infant from not eating along with complaints when a side-dish section is empty, to reduce concerns of parents of infants about making side dishes, to reduce an inconvenience of separately taking and heating cold cooked rice, soup, or side dish using a microwave range, to provide only a side dish which is further requested by an infant, and to utilize only an individual side-dish container included in a food tray being used rather than using another side-dish container when a snack is provided.

Also, when the infant food tray is used at home, the present invention needs to distribute and accommodate an adequate amount of food to a child with nutrition.

Accordingly, when the infant food trays are used by parents in many households, it is necessary to solve a case in which, when the number of food items such as curry or black-bean-sauce or side dishes is decreased and an empty side-dish section is seen by a child, the child has a question “This one's empty. Why don't you fill it?” or complaint “Fill this too”.

Also, when a soup or side dish to be served warm is placed on a food tray and heated using a microwave range, in consideration of food like dried laver which may become soggy after being heated, the soup or side dish is taken on another side-dish container to be heated and transferred to the food tray. Here, it is necessary to refine such inconvenience and to improve use of the food tray to be more efficient.

Technical Solution

One aspect of the present invention provides an infant food tray to which a small side-dish container (210) is applied. The small side-dish container (210) includes a container handle (212) formed on one side of an outer rim (214) of the container to protrude sideward to be held by a hand to lift only the container. A sidewall (213) and a bottom (216) of the small side-dish container (210) maintain a square shape due to a rounded portion (218).

Another aspect of the present invention provides an infant food tray to which a large cooked rice and soup container (220) is applied. The large cooked rice and soup container (220) includes a container handle (222) formed on one side of an outer rim (224) of the container to protrude sideward to be held by a hand to lift only the container and a sidewall (223) and a bottom (226) of the large cooked rice and soup container (220) maintain a long rectangular shape due to a rounded portion (228).

Still another aspect of the present invention provides an infant food tray to which a snack tray (230) is applied. The snack tray (230) includes container-accommodation spaces (232 a), (232 b) configured to accommodate two small side-dish containers (210). The container-accommodation spaces (232 a), (232 b) are formed to be surrounded by a stepped rim (234) having a step on top on an outer periphery. A sidewall (233) and a bottom (236) maintain a shape due to a rounded portion (238) so as to allow infants to separately accommodate as much as they want to eat of a large amount of cooked rice and soup in each of the container-accommodation spaces (232 a), (232 b) little by little or to be easily used and replaced by inserting the small side-dish containers (210) thereinto.

Yet another aspect of the present invention provides an infant food tray to which a food tray (240) is applied. The food tray (240) includes two container accommodation spaces (243 a), (243 b) divided into a front and a rear by a sidewall (245) and one container accommodation space (242 a) so as to accommodate two large cooked rice and soup containers (220) in front and three small side-dish containers (210) in the rear when viewed from the front, the container accommodation spaces (242 a), (243 a), (243 b) formed to be surrounded by a stepped rim (244) having a step on top on an outer perimeter thereof and including a sidewall (243) and a bottom (246) maintaining a shape due to a rounded portion (248) so as to allow infants to separately accommodate as much as they want to eat of a large amount of cooked rice and soup or side dishes little by little in the container accommodation spaces (242 a), (243 a), (243 b) or to insert the small side-dish containers (210) and the large cooked rice and soup containers (220) therein to be easily used.

Advantageous Effects

According to the present invention, an infant food tray provides effects of accommodating cooked rice and soup or a variety of types (at least three and up to eight types) of food depending on the number of side dishes to feed an infant, of separately heating residual cold soup, cooked rice, or side dishes using a microwave range, and of giving a snack to the infant using side-dish containers and a snack tray which are included in the infant food tray even when there is no additional side-dish container.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an infant food tray according to a related art.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the infant food tray according to the related art taken along line A-A of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a small side-dish container of an infant food tray as a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the small side-dish container of the infant food tray as the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a large cooked rice and soup container of the infant food tray as a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the large cooked rice and soup container of the infant food tray as the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an infant food tray in which two side-dish containers and a tray are coupled as a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the infant food tray in which the two side-dish containers and the tray are coupled as the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an infant food tray in which five side-dish containers and a tray are coupled as a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a front view of the infant food tray in which the five side-dish containers and the tray are coupled as the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the infant food tray in which the five side-dish containers are separated from the tray as the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

MODES OF THE INVENTION

An infant food tray of existing food trays (trays on the market) has a shape with a size reduced from that of an adult food tray and is configured to accommodate five types of food including cooked rice, soup, and three side dishes.

In order to further utilize the above, an infant food tray configured to accommodate three to eight items has been developed.

The infant food tray has been developed by changing an existing shape accommodating five items of food to a shape accommodating at least three items of food and inserting side-dish containers up to the internal grade to be usable like an existing food tray and separately using side-dish containers. Additionally, a snack tray configured to accommodate up to three items of food by coupling two side-dish containers up to the internal grade has been developed.

Accordingly, types of an infant food tray according to the present invention include 1) a food tray frame (food tray) configured to accommodate three types of food, 2) two side-dish containers configured to accommodate cooked rice and soup (to be coupled to a food tray), 3) three side-dish containers configured to accommodate side dishes (to be coupled to a food tray), and 4) a food tray frame configured to accommodate two types of food (a snack food tray).

Hereinafter, as a first embodiment of the present invention, a small side-dish container to be applied to an infant food tray which is the base invention will be described.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the small side-dish container of the infant food tray as the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a front view of the small side-dish container of the infant food tray as the first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the drawings, a small side-dish container 210 is configured so that a container handle 212 is formed on one side of an outer rim 214 of the container to protrude sideward to be held by infants and a sidewall 213 and a bottom 216 of the small side-dish container 210 maintain a square shape using a rounded portion 218 so as to allow infants to separately accommodate a small amount of side dish little by little.

There is provided a structure of the small side-dish container in which, since a hand does not come into direct contact with a container body due to the container handle 212 of the small side-dish container 210, it is considerably helpful for hygiene of infants and it is not particularly necessary to use a wet wipe to clean the hands.

Hereinafter, as a second embodiment of the present invention, a large cooked rice and soup container to be applied to the infant food tray which is the base invention will be described.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the large cooked rice and soup container of the infant food tray as the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a front view of the large cooked rice and soup container of the infant food tray as the second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the drawings, a large cooked rice and soup container 220 is configured so that a container handle 222 is formed on one side of an outer edge 224 of the container to protrude sideward to be held by infants and a sidewall 223 and a bottom 226 of the large cooked rice and soup container 220 maintain a long rectangular shape using a rounded portion 228 so as to allow infants to separately accommodate as much as they want to eat of a large amount of cooked rice and soup.

There is provided a structure of the large cooked rice and soup container in which, since a hand does not come into direct contact with a container body due to the container handle 222 of the large cooked rice and soup container 220, it is considerably helpful for hygiene of infants and it is not particularly necessary to use a wet wipe to clean the hands.

As a third embodiment of the present invention, a side-dish container to be applied to an infant food tray in which two side-dish containers and a tray are coupled will be described.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an infant food tray in which two side-dish containers and a tray are coupled as a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a front view of the infant food tray in which the two side-dish containers and the tray are coupled as the third embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the drawings, a snack tray 230 includes container-accommodation spaces 232 a and 232 b configured to accommodate two small side-dish containers 210. The container-accommodation spaces 232 a and 232 b are formed to be surrounded by a stepped rim 234 having a step on top on an outer periphery thereof. A sidewall 233 and a bottom 236 maintain a shape due to a rounded portion 238 so as to allow infants to separately accommodate as much as they want to eat of a large amount of cooked rice and soup in each of the container-accommodation spaces 232 a and 232 b little by little or to be used by inserting the small side-dish containers 210 thereinto.

As a fourth embodiment of the present invention, a side-dish container to be applied to an infant food tray in which five side-dish containers and a tray are coupled will be described.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an infant food tray in which five side-dish containers and a tray are coupled as a fourth embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 10 is a front view of the infant food tray in which the five side-dish containers and the tray are coupled as the fourth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the infant food tray in which the five side-dish containers are separated from the tray as the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the drawings, a food tray 240 includes two container accommodation spaces 243 a and 243 b divided into a front and a rear by a sidewall 245 and one container accommodation space 242 a so as to accommodate two large cooked rice and soup containers 220 in front and three small side-dish containers 210 in the rear when viewed from the front. The container accommodation spaces 242 a, 243 a, and 243 b are formed to be surrounded by a stepped rim 244 including a step on top on an outer perimeter thereof. A sidewall 243 and a bottom 246 maintain a shape due to a rounded portion 248 so as to allow infants to separately accommodate as much as they want to eat of a large amount of cooked rice and soup or side dishes little by little in the container accommodation spaces 242 a, 243 a, and 243 b or to insert the small side-dish containers 210 and the large cooked rice and soup containers 220 therein to be easily used. 

1. An infant food tray for a snack tray (230), the infant food tray (230) comprising: container accommodation spaces (232 a), (232 b) formed at a front and back to accommodate two small side-dish containers (210) wherein each of the container accommodation spaces (232 a), (232 b) is formed to be surrounded by a stepped rim (234) having a step on top on an outer periphery thereof, wherein a sidewall (233) and a bottom (236) of the container accommodation spaces (232 a), (232 b) maintain a shape due to a rounded portion (238) so as to allow infants to separately accommodate a desired amount of cooked rice and soup little by little, or to insert the small side-dish containers (210) to be easily replaced with each other, wherein the small side-dish container (210) includes a container handle (212) formed on one side of an outer rim (214) of the container to protrude sideward to be held by a hand to lift only the container, and wherein a sidewall (213) and a bottom (216) of the small side-dish container (210) maintain a square shape due to a rounded portion (218).
 2. An infant food tray for a snack tray (230), the infant food tray (230) comprising: two container accommodation spaces (243 a), (243 b) divided into a front and a rear by a sidewall (245) and one container accommodation space (242 a) so as to accommodate two large cooked rice and soup containers (220) in front and three small side-dish containers (210) in the rear when viewed from the front, wherein the container accommodation spaces (242 a), (243 a), (243 b) are formed to be surrounded by a stepped rim (244) having a step on top on an outer perimeter thereof and comprising a sidewall (243) and a bottom (246) maintaining a shape due to a rounded portion (248) so as to allow infants to separately accommodate a desired amount of cooked rice and soup little by little in the container accommodation spaces (242 a), (243 a), (243 b) or to insert the small side-dish containers (210) and the large cooked rice and soup containers (220) therein to be easily used, wherein the large cooked rice and soup container (220) includes a container handle (222) formed on one side of an outer rim (224) of the container to protrude sideward to be held by a hand to lift only the container, and wherein a sidewall (223) and a bottom (226) of the large cooked rice and soup container (220) maintain a long rectangular shape due to a rounded portion (228). 